A/N So hello people this is my second fanfic but my first one didn't go very well so i'm trying again.

Anyway this is set in modern day

Tris is a junior, Tobias is a senior

I'm sure all the characters will be a little ooc but i really tried to make the characters believable, although some of the chracters are completely different than in the book, for the sake of the story, (Andrew, Caleb, Al, and even Susan)

Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent, all credit goes to Veronica roth. I only own my ideas.

INTRO

TRIS POV

"Plea- please stop." I whimper as the belt comes down and digs into my back again. Andrew growls and hits me again; hot pain shoots through me as I suppress a cry.

I can feel the belt buckle collide into my shoulder and I know that there will be not only a bruise but also most likely a welt when I wake up.

I can feel the leather slice the already tender skin on my back from previous beatings, I don't know why he does this to me; all I can think about now is the stinging pain. I scream for him to stop but he just hits me harder, I can tell that the cuts will be deeper than usual.

"Andrew stop!" I scream angrily trying to stand up and get away but I'm weak from the previous hits, he slaps me so hard I see stars and collapse again, leaving me in the perfect position for him to use me as a punching bag. This is it; I'm going to die. I want to get up and run away from here but my body refuses to move, I feel another kick in my side and I groan.

Eventually Andrew lets up a bit and yanks me up, he literally drags me up the stairs of our small house in abnegation and throws me in my room like I was a rag doll, I don't make a noise because right now he's content with just locking me in my room, and most likely starving me until school tomorrow and even that's better than getting beaten up, and if he hears me he'll just hurt me so I stay silent. When I hear uneven steps down the stairs, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

Another day in paradise, I somehow manage to get myself into a sitting position. I have to get out of here, I try to remember if Marcus is home right now or not, but I'm having trouble thinking straight because my head is pounding so hard.

I think back to yesterday, Tobias said that it was ok to come over today because he was on a business trip.

I stand up but just end up on the ground with a loud bang again, hitting my head hard, I don't know how but I make it to my window which is my usual escape from here and climb out, I climb down from the roof and start to drag myself down the street to Tobias' house.

TOBIAS POV

Thank God Marcus is gone, he left about an hour ago and I'm enjoying the freedom but like usual I can't enjoy it for long because I'm always worried about Tris, I hope Andrew's out tonight but somehow I'm pretty sure he's not.

Our dad's have known each other since high school and now they're business partners. Luckily for Tris and I their jobs keep them busy and they often go away for weeks sometimes even months at a time on trips but that can only last for a while until they come back.

Marcus beat my mom for years until she finally just left him, and apparently at the time it didn't even cross her mind that when she left he'd just hurt me instead. I was 8 and here I am 10 years later still afraid of him and still too weak to fight back.

For Tris it was different though, her mom died right around the time my beatings got worse, she was 10 I was 12. As a result Andrew turned into… well another Marcus. Taking all his anger out on Tris and abandoning her brother Caleb.

Even thinking about him hurting her for the past 7 years makes me sick, but the worst part is, is that I'm too much of a coward to protect her. I remember the first time she came running to my house, sobbing, with a lash mark across her cheek. I remember wanting to take her away from here, away from anyone who could hurt her. I remember wishing I could do something to stop him but I knew that there was no way I could stop him if I couldn't even stop Marcus.

I've always been protective of her but since her mom died, Andrew started to abuse her and started getting bullied I've been really protective, she hates it but I can't help it. She hates being weak and she's not so I try to treat her like the strong girl she is but its hard, I just want to protect her.

Then I start to worry about her again, I told her Marcus was gone for the week and we both know that the other wouldn't ever pass up the chance to get away. I'm sure I'm overreacting, she has homework or she's at Christina's or something. But somehow I know that that's not the case, then the front door bursts open, and Tris trudges in bloody, bruised battered and by the looks of it barely conscious.

I stride over to her in 3 long steps and wrap an arm around her to help her up. She immediately leans into me, I don't have to ask what happened. I help her walk over to the couch and help her lay down then run up the stairs and grab some pain killers and bandages to wrap up her injuries.

When I go back down stairs, I wrap up her torso and her shoulder, which has a huge, bleeding gash, most likely from the belt buckle.

It kills me to see her like this, to see that much pain written across her beautiful face, it makes me sick.

This happens every time, and every time I watch her limp over to my house at midnight, like tonight, anger boils up inside of me and it takes everything I am to not go over to her house and kill Andrew with my bare hands because it's one thing to hurt me, in fact maybe I even deserve it but it's a completely another thing to hurt my Tris. I hate having to stand by and watch it happen but we both know that there's nothing we can do.

She takes the aspirin and a few minutes later she can sit up, I can tell that the pain has subsided a little. "You ok now?" I ask quietly. She nods a little too vigorously, staring at the floor, biting her lip to keep from crying.

No matter how much I'd like to take her in my arms and cuddle her I know that I can't because she'd resent me and probably stop talking to me if I did so I just watch her face carefully. This is the hardest part, I know what it's like, once the physical pain subsides you get to thinking about all that they said and why they did it and wonder what you did wrong, the emotional damage hurts just as bad.

As I think of what she had to go through tonight and what Andrew must have done to her and has done to her since she was little, rage takes over me and my hands clench into fists. I need to clear my head.

"Have you eaten anything today?" I seriously doubt she did, being stuck at home with Andrew all day. Not only does he never feed her he doesn't allow her to eat. She shakes her head.

"I'll go get you something, I'll be right back. Ok?" she nods; I don't expect much else from her, once I'm in the small abnegation style kitchen I start pacing trying to calm down.

There's nothing you can do. I think to myself but it doesn't help, all I want to do is protect her but I can't. I grab a bottle of water and a few other things; when I get back she has her sketchpad that she keeps here on her lap with her back facing me against the armrest and her I-pod, which she keeps here, is playing music quietly.

A soft song plays quietly, I stand in the doorway watching her sketch for a second and like usual I wonder about what's she's drawing.

Of course I'd never ask; that's how she heals. She sketches her feelings and I understand that that's private to her. I've seen a few of her pictures and it's pretty horrific the stuff that she must feel to be able to draw something like that. I enter the room, taking a quick glance over her shoulder and am surprised not to see some disgusting image of death or pain but of the making of a person, a man, from the side. It's really good too. I go over to the other end of the couch, lift up her feet, sit and let her rest them on my lap. She looks up at me with one of her rare small smiles before turning to her drawing. We stay like that for a long time, her drawing and me watching her carefully.

Eventually she looks up at the clock and her eyes go wide, I look up too and it's past 2am.

"You can sleep up in my room." I tell her getting up, she eyes the stairs nervously and I can tell she is still in a lot of pain. She nods and closes her sketchpad, I help her up and we walk up the stairs.

TRIS POV

His room is familiar considering I'm almost always over here so as soon as we get up there I comfortably go and sit on the edge of the bed, without any awkwardness between us, he is my best friend after all. He leans on the doorframe casually, watching me.

"I'm gonna take a shower, I probably look like a wreck." I say standing, wincing as the tender scrapes on my back open a little. He nods with a small smile and heads down downstairs.

I go into his bathroom and turn the water on, scalding hot. It feels really good, with the boiling water burning and relaxing my tense muscles. Washing over my scars.

A few minutes later I'm getting under the covers and the second my head hits the pillow I can feel myself drifting into sleep, feeling safe for the first time since I last saw Tobias.

He's the best friend I could ask for; he doesn't look at me like a kicked puppy like I always imagine people doing if I told them.

He understands how I feel because he goes through the same thing.

He and I help each other get through this, without him I don't know how I would have survived and I know he feels the same.

A/N Sooooo tell me what you think. Should I continue? Love it, hate it, tell me! I really want to know! Have any ideas i'd love to hear them! I have tons of ideas for this story so just let me know if i should just stop embarassing myself.

PS this is kinda boring but things will pick up, i just thought this was a good introduction to the story.

Please review!